Universe Today - November 1, 2000 |
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the U N I V E R S E T O D A Y Space Exploration News From Around the Internet, Updated Every Weekday. November 1, 2000 - Issue #333 http://www.universetoday.com info@universetoday.com An HTML version of this newsletter including pictures is available at: http://www.universetoday.com/html/misc/today.html ************************************** A note from the publisher Here's something cool... you know, for kids. European Space Agency is inviting young people (between ages 8-12) to take part in a competition to draw a flag to represent the Earth. The overall winner will fly to Kourou, in French Guiana, to see the launch of Envisat, the new advanced Earth observation satellite. The Ariane 5 launcher that will carry Envisat into space will bear the Envisat logo and the winning picture of the Earth flag. http://www.esa.it/export/esaCP/GGGFRM0UGEC_index_0.html This contest is only open to ESA countries and kids from Canada. Sorry to all of you from the States. If you win, please take me - tell the ESA that I'm your uncle or something. ;-) Fraser Cain Publisher Universe Today ************************************** PhysLink.com Astronomy CD-ROMs Promotion: VIEWS OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM 2000 - Only $12.99 +S&H - multimedia CD with the latest scientific information, solar system reference data, history of space exploration, teacher lesson plans, thousands of photographs, scientific facts, text, graphics and videos. IMPACT - GROUND ZERO - Only $12.99 +S&H - interactive CD-ROM multimedia presentation about comet and asteroid impacts on the Earth. Includes photos, videos, reference library, interviews with leading NASA scientists, timeline, and more. Both run on: Windows 95/98/2000/NT and MacOS SPECIAL: Get both CDs and a FREE PhysLINK.com Pen for only $21.98 +S&H To order go to: http://www.physlink.com/bookstore_cds.cfm ************************************** -- UNIVERSE TODAY STORY SUMMARY -- * Soyuz Prepares to Dock with Space Station * Opportunity to Buy Cheap Russian Rockets * China Launches its First Navigation Satellite * Astronomers Wonder About a Lack of Planets in Globular Cluster SOYUZ PREPARES TO DOCK WITH SPACE STATION ------------------------- The Progress cargo ship currently docked to the International Space Station was disconnected from the docking port, and moved to a lower orbit (where it will burn up in the atmosphere) earlier this morning to make room for the approaching Soyuz capsule carrying the first permanent inhabitants of the station - Expedition 1. The ship is expected to dock Thursday at 9:25am GMT. Original Source: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/spacenews/reports/issreports/2000/iss00-45.html Internet Coverage: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_999000/999675.stm http://www.cnn.com/2000/TECH/space/10/31/space.station.update.01/index.html http://www.discovery.com/news/briefs/20001101/sp_ap_station.html http://www.chron.com/content/interactive/space/station/stories/2000/20001101.html Similar Stories: http://www.universetoday.com/html/topics/spacestation.html Related Sites: http://www.universetoday.com/html/directory/nasa.html Related Books: http://www.universetoday.com/html/books/spacestations.html OPPORTUNITY TO BUY CHEAP RUSSIAN ROCKETS ------------------------- The chief of Russia's nuclear program announced yesterday that he has hundreds of rockets for sale for launching satellites - at discount prices. The most likely candidates for sale are the SS-18 rockets, or Stilettos, as they are called in the West. Russia can't afford to maintain the enormous nuclear arsenal it inherited after the breakup. It's estimated these rockets would cost 1/6th the price of conventional purpose built rocket. Internet Coverage: http://www.msnbc.com/news/463318.asp http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20001031/sc/space_defense_dc_2.html Similar Stories: http://www.universetoday.com/html/topics/russia.html Related Sites: http://www.universetoday.com/html/directory/russia.html Related Books: http://www.universetoday.com/html/books/russia.html CHINA LAUNCHES ITS FIRST NAVIGATION SATELLITE ------------------------- The official Xinhua News Agency reported yesterday that China has successfully launched its first navigation positioning satellite, the Beidou Navigation Test Satellite-1 (BNTS-1), on board a Changzheng-3A rocket. The launch occurred at 4:02pm GMT on October 30th, and the satellite was delivered into orbit 27 minutes later. The Beidou will serve the same purpose as the US-based GPS system, which enables people on the ground to know their exact position. Internet Coverage: http://www.spacedaily.com/news/gps-00k.html http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0011/01china/ http://www.spaceviews.com/2000/10/31b.html Similar Stories: http://www.universetoday.com/html/topics/chinese.html Related Sites: http://www.universetoday.com/html/directory/satellites.html Related Books: http://www.universetoday.com/html/books/satellites.html ASTRONOMERS WONDER ABOUT A LACK OF PLANETS IN GLOBULAR CLUSTER ------------------------- Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope were surprised to find that they were unable to find any extrasolar planets in the globular star cluster 47 Tucanae, which contains 35,000 stars - they expected to find 17. Hubble was trained on the cluster 15,000 light years away, and it would be able to monitor slight movements in any of the stars, indicating a planet. The fact that they didn't find any indicates the possibility that planet formation works differently in different locations in the galaxy. Original Source: http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/pr/2000/33/ Internet Coverage: http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0011/01hubble/ Similar Stories: http://www.universetoday.com/html/topics/extrasolar.html Related Sites: http://www.universetoday.com/html/directory/extrasolarplanets.html Related Books: http://www.universetoday.com/html/books/extrasolarplanets.html ********************************* Links to space-related sites... Crayford Manor House Astronomical Society - http://www.astronomy.freeserve.co.uk An advanced local astronomical society having close links with professional astronomers. The Yahoo! Venture Star Club http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/theventurestarclub We are the No.1 space exploration club at Yahoo, with over 1250 members worldwide. International Science Olympiads http://www.scienceolympiads.org/ annual contests for secondary education in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Informatics, Biology, Astronomy Orbit Xplorer - http://www.ottisoft.com/orbit_x.htm Educational orbit and gravitation simulator. Includes many premade simulations with onscreen activities and exercises. ------------------------- To unsubscribe from this newsletter, just reply with only the subject line "UNSUBSCRIBE !*EMAIL*!". All contents copyright (c) 2000 Universe Today |